Hilary Gardner

Hilary with dancer Holley Farmer at Come Fly Away's opening night party.

(Photo: Bruce Glikas, Broadway.com)

"Gardner evokes memories of another time and place." - NPR

"A voice worth seeking out." - New York Magazine

"Gardner's ready to fly." - Paul deBarros, Seattle Times

"...an uninhibited answer to the young Doris Day." - Stephen Holden, New York Times

"...a sound and vibe that makes you think she's the secret love child of Peggy Lee and Tom Waits." - Midwest Record

I'm a singer and writer living in Brooklyn, New York.  I share my August 22 birthday with Dorothy Parker, John Lee Hooker, Claude Debussy, and Kristen Wiig.  My first gigs were in Wasilla, Alaska, where I sang Patsy Cline tunes in dive bars. Classical voice study helped build my musical foundation, but equally formative was the time I spent singing along with records by Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell, and Tom Waits, to name just a few.  

I was indeed willing to be lucky when I moved to New York, and New York has been very generous to me.  Since my arrival in 2003, I’ve sung with orchestras, big bands, small bands, a vocal jazz quartet, and a country band.  In 2010, I  was the female vocalist (and Frank Sinatra's duet partner) in Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away.  

Among my more eclectic gigs are assorted commercial jingles, a cameo on a Moby record, and performing the national anthem at CitiField for the New York Mets.  

My debut album, The Great City, was released by Anzic Records in 2014.  Part love letter, part lament, the record celebrates the electricity, dynamism, and sense of possibility that permeate life in the Big Apple.  When I'm not performing or rehearsing music, I’m am often writing on my blog, Ad Alta Voce, about creativity, food, or this city I love so much.